The Truth
by LiveLaughLoveReadForever
Summary: Christine decides to return to the Opera House so she can tell Erik the truth of how she really feels. Not an LND story. "He looked like an animal that had just been cornered by its predator. His eyes were wide, terrified, and they looked like they were begging Christine for mercy. Her heart broke for the man that looked so terrified of her."


The empty hallway seemed to stretch on and on forever. Her footsteps sounded loud and disturbing. _Disturbing of what?_ she asked herself. She paused considering her own question. _The peace_, she eventually decided.

She was right. The quiet that filled the air was peaceful. She smiled softly as she remembered how much the Opera House changed from day to night. During the day, it was bustling, loud, filled with people and chatter, people were rushing about trying to get where they needed to be. At night the silence felt somewhat overbearing compared to the sounds that usually filled the building.

A bolt of lightning flashed outside a nearby window, making the beautiful girl jump back. The loud clap of thunder quickly followed the bright light, causing the Opera House to shake. Christine froze; looking out to where rain had just began to fall. For a moment she forget the reason she came to the Opera House. All she wanted to do was run into her old room that she had once shared with Meg and wake the girl so they could tell stories to each other until the rain stopped, like they used to. But she quickly remembered and started walking again. She passed by the bedroom door where she knew Meg was sleeping in and slowed down a bit, tempted to open the door to the room and visit the dancer, but she forced her feet to continue in the direction they needed to go. Her feet were trying to delay her in every way possible. She couldn't blame them, though (mostly because they're her own feet). Christine was nervous too. Stopping to smell the roses had never sounded better to her than it did at that moment. Heck, she would have been all for stopping to take a nap in the flowers.

Anything to lengthen the amount of time it took for her to do what she came to do; tell him the truth. The truth that she should have told him eons ago, when she had first realized it. Running a hand through her hair, she sighed thinking of her mistake. She was going to tell him, but the words had gotten stuck in her throat and she hadn't been able to force them out. Tears pricked her eyes as she recalled the look on his face as she left. How could he ever forgive her now? How could he ever accept her again? How could he ever love her? She didn't deserve his love. She had caused him so much pain. So much pain... It hadn't been intentional, of course. A lone tear trailed down her face as she thought of the masked man that had stolen her heart.

Christine wiped away the tear and started walking once more. She had to do this one last thing. If she didn't she would hate herself forever. Already she hated herself for letting him go. For being so weak. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Trying to focus, instead, on what she planned to do.

Her thoughts stopped when she arrived at the door of her former dressing room. She prayed that no one had taken up attendance in the room. She opened the door slowly and found the dressing room bare. The mirror that was attached to the wall was draped in a dark blue tarp. A small bit of her heart broke. They had covered him up once again. Terrified by him, trying to dispel him, but he was still here. If she had doubted what Madame Giry had told her, she had no doubts now. She could feel him. She tore away the tarp and began feeling for the switch that opened the mirror.

It took her several moments before the mirror finally opened for her. She took a deep, shuddering breath and stepped into the never-ending darkness that she knew would lead her to Erik. Praying that she would get to her beloved's home safely, she began her dangerous hike.

She stumbled over a large rock as she was walking and fell to the floor. Her arms instinctively went out to try and stop herself from hitting her head. Christine winced as her right knee landed on a particularly sharp rock. The warmth of blood seeped out of the open wound. She pulled up her skirt; it didn't look deep. And while she was in pain, she had danced through worse. She looked down at her hands. They were covered in dirt, but she could still see the scratches that catching herself from the rocky floor had caused. She quickly started back on her journey, but now with a limp in her step.

Once she arrived at the lake that surrounded Erik's house she felt the need to be with her angel grow and her nervousness slightly fade. Her heart was racing at being so close to him. It was quiet a difference than what he had been feeling lately. Dead. Now with him so close to her, her heart was racing and a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She felt lighter than she had felt since she had left with Raoul. That was when she had felt the dead weight first form inside her.

She hurriedly rushed over to the boat that was sitting in the spot that Raoul and herself had left it. It didn't look like it had been touched since the last night she had been there. Christine climbed into the boat and pushed off of the shore. She propelled herself forward with the oars, all thoughts of trying to quietly arrive at his house gone in her desperation to get there. A soft thump sounded when she reached the other side of the lake. She walked forward towards the house. Her palms were sweating and she hurriedly wiped them on her clothes, hoping to disguise all evidence of her nervousness.

One more step and she'd be in front of the beautiful castle's front door. She stepped forward and raised her hand to  
knock on the door.

_ What if he was asleep? Should I just wait until tomorrow morning?_ Christine asked herself. Footsteps were sounding from inside the house. Walking back and forth, back and forth. He was pacing. She couldn't help but notice that even his footsteps had a beautiful musical rhythm to it. She heaved a great sigh and the footsteps stopped. She froze, realizing that she had unintentionally drawn his attention to her. The footsteps sounded again, but this time they were getting closer and closer to the door. Her breath caught in her throat as the footsteps drew closer. There was silence for a moment before the door was thrown open.

Christine's hands went instinctively to her throat, knowing about his signature way of killing. Her eyes met his and she saw the pain and complete terror that were shining in them. The Punjab lasso that he had planned on trapping his new visitor in was forgotten in his hands as he backed away, the sting of the wound that she had inflicted upon him, reopened and the pain was stronger than ever.

_Why is she here? What does she want with me? Hasn't she caused me enough pain?_  
_Hasn't she made me pay for all of my sins?_ Erik wondered, panic filling his entire body.

Her eyes were filled with concern for the masked man who had started to slowly back away from her. Tears had started to prick at his eyes, but he didn't allow them to fall. He looked like an animal that had just been cornered by its predator. His eyes were wide, terrified, and they looked like they were begging Christine for mercy. Christine's heart broke for the man that looked so terrified of her.

"What are you doing here?" he tried to sound menacing and angry, but the slight quiver in his voice gave him away.

"Oh, _mon ange_," Christine breathed slowly. The lasso had fallen out of his graceful hands as he backed away from the beautiful girl. It was lying in between them, as if it was a barrier, reminding Christine of everything he had done in the past. But she didn't acknowledge it. She stepped forward; the pain in her right leg was all but forgotten as every fiber of her being seemed to be focused on Erik.

His eyes followed every little motion she made in the same loving, admiring way that he used to watch her, but pain and heartbreak also present in his gaze. He still had the cornered and animal look, but they had a look of acceptance in them. Like he was accepting his fate.

"What are you doing here?" he asked again, but he didn't try to sound hostile like before. Now he only sounded weary and sad.

"Erik," Christine said stepping forward so that she was standing close enough to be able to just reach out and touch him before she knew what she was doing. He shuddered to hear his given name spoken in such a kind; caring way by the woman he loved with his entire being.

He noticed how close they were and stepped back to more distance between them. Distance was good. The farther away she was from him the less she could hurt him.

"Erik," she repeated, "Stop running from me, my dear."

He froze, the words driving a cold spike through his heart. She had come back to hurt him. She had decided that he needed to pay for what he had done to her and her fiancée and had come back to cause him more pain by giving him what he had always wanted and painfully ripping it out of his arms. A lone tear ran down his unmasked cheek.

"Why?" he asked, so much pain was laced into the single word that Christine actually stopped in her tracks as the shame that she had caused someone she loved so much pain crept into her heart. "Why are you trying to hurt me so much?"

"What?" Christine was incredulous. She wasn't trying to hurt him. She just wanted him to know the truth; he deserved that. He deserved that and so much more. He deserved so much more than what Christine could give him.

"What?" He repeated with a cruel laugh. Christine winced as his voice rose. "You know what I mean! You came here to hurt me worse than you already have!"

Christine backed away in shock. He thought she was here to...hurt him? Why would she do that?

"Erik," she said gently. He stopped talking and looked down at the ground. He hadn't meant to say so much to her. "I don't want to hurt you."

_You already have_, thought Erik miserably. But after all she had done to him; caused him a pain that was more intense than knowing his own mother hated him and couldn't bear to look at his face, more intense than the merciless beatings that he had gotten throughout his years, even though she was back to cause him more pain, he couldn't bring himself to hate her. He couldn't even bring himself to dislike her. His love for her kept him from doing that. The feeling that overwhelmed him and clouded his senses. The feeling that was so intense that it made him shake.

"Erik..." Christine stepped closer to the masked man with a slight sigh. He obediently lifted his head at her silent request, but wouldn't meet her eyes. "Oh, Erik, why must you assume that I'm here to harm you?"

Silence answered her words. Heaving a great a sigh she slowly sank to the floor, providing relief to her right knee, which had started to hurt again. He slowly slumped down to her level and pressed his head against the wall, looking more tired and exhausted than she had ever seen him before. He stared straight ahead, his gaze unwavering until Christine shifted and stretched out her injured leg. His eyes glanced down and he finally noticed the stain of red against the dark dress.

"Christine!" he cried all thoughts of anger and heartache were pushed away as he saw the blood. Her head snapped up and stared up at his.

"You're injured!" He gestured wildly towards her injury.

"It's nothing," she quickly assured, but he was already walking off. She frowned at his abrupt exit, but waited to see if he would come back like she assumed he would. Christine was right. Within a few moments, Erik was back with a wet cloth in his hands. He awkwardly thrust it out her Christine's general direction. Timidly, Christine shifted and pushed up her dress so he could see her wound.

Erik had seen many disturbing things in his years; blood, guts, gore, innards, blood soaked sheets while the dead bodies lay there with unseeing eyes, but the very sight of Christine's blood caused bile to rise up in his throat. She shouldn't be in pain. Her blood needs to stay in her body. The even idea of his angel being in pain made Erik want to find out who had done it and take the very breath out of that person's chest.

Before he could stop himself, he was on his knees in front of her, while pressing the wet cloth to her wound trying to stop the blood from flowing.

"What happened, Christine?" he growled; ready to kill whoever had caused her pain. He knew that even though she was trying to put on a brave face, her leg was hurting her.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Christine promised. "I just tripped over a rock on my way here."  
He scanned her face, looking for any sign that she was lying to him for some else's sake.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Good," Erik said before mumbling something under his breath that Christine couldn't make out and turning back to tending her leg.

Christine leaned her head back as tended to her knee. Every once in a while his cold hands would accidentally drift over her skin when he would replace the wet cloth, making her slightly shiver. After he seemed content with what he had done with her leg (he had made the bleeding stop) he seemed to realize the position that they were in. He jumped up and scrambled backwards.

"Oh, Christine! I'm so sorry! I did not mean to-," Erik hurriedly said, thinking that the caring gesture would have disgusted her beyond belief.

"It's alright. It's alright," Christine said softly, missing the pressure on her knee. "Thank you for tending to my knee."

"Oh, erm, you're welcome," Erik hadn't been expecting a thank you from the girl. A cry of disgust or of repulsion would have been expected. If she has shied away from him in fear or disgust that would have been expected. But a thank you...Erik wasn't expecting that.

Christine smiled kindly at the masked man and scooted closer to where he was now sitting. He didn't back away and Christine let out breath that she didn't know she had been holding. She squirmed a centimeter closer. Just a few centimeters more and their hands would be touching.

"It," a centimeter closer, "was" one less centimeter was between them "very" another centimeter; gone "kind of" she moved the last centimeter "you."

Her fingertips brushed ever so slightly against his and he shuddered at the sensation. His eyes stared down at their hands that were lying so close to each other. He felt the urge to move his bony, shaking hand so that they're hands were touching, but quickly forced it down. She would just recoil in disgust.

Her eyes followed his down to their almost touching hands. Slowly, almost as if she was afraid that she would frighten him and make him run off, she lifted her hand and placed it on top of his.

He made a small choking noise in the back of his throat at the contact and lightly shivered. A touch. A freely given touch. _ And_, Erik realized after stealing a glance at her face, _There isn't a trace of disgust or terror on her face_. He directed his gaze towards the ceiling now. His shaking increased and he cursed himself for showing her how intense his love for her was, even if it wasn't on purpose. Her hands were warm, heating up his own cold hands. She moved her hand a bit and Erik's heart sank. He made no move to stop her from removing her hand from him. He waited for the cold air to brush against his hand, the sign that she really had moved away from him, but it didn't come. He felt her hand move some more, but the cool sting of rejection never came. Her had had just moved so now her hand was carefully grasping his in her tight hold, her fingers entwined with his.

He gasped aloud and she instantly tensed.

"Erik," Christine murmured softly.

"Yes?" Erik replied before he could help himself.

"Oh, Erik." How did she say this? How would he respond? She shifted a bit so she was sitting up and they were at the same level. "I...I...I came here because..."

And before she could finish her sentence, Christine let go of his hand and pulled him into a kiss. Erik felt his heart stop beating. Her lips were as sweet as honey and he never wanted the sweet sensation of her lips on his to end. For a moment, Erik actually wished that she would just rip his mask off so he could feel her kissing him without any barriers. The moment quickly passed, though.

It was a sweet kiss. It wasn't passionate or hot; it was a testament of their love. She slowly tilted her head to the side, the mask chaffing at her lip. Eventually, the lack of air got the best of them and she pulled back.

Tears were openly falling down his face, but he made no move to wipe them.

"Dear Erik! What's wrong?" Christine asked alarmed.

Before he could answer she lifted up her hand and gently brushed the tears away. Her hand lingered at his unmasked cheek before she cupped his cheek softly in her hand and slowly traced circles against it. His breathing seemed to stop all together and he was shaking almost violently.

Erik knew that he should say something, she had a fiancée at home, a fiancée she had chosen over him, but couldn't bring himself to ruin the illusion. Her fingers were gently dancing against his cheek, causing more pleasure than he had ever experienced to jolt through his body. His lips were still tingling from when she had kissed him. He missed their warmth, but didn't dare ask for more or even think of initiating another one. He had already been told no too many times... His thoughts started to drift towards his mother, but he quickly pushed them away and focused on the beautiful girl in front of him. He opened his eyes and met hers. They were swimming in emotions that Erik didn't try to decipher, afraid to find regret in them. Her beautiful eyes were what brought him back to reality.

He sighed deeply and said softly, "Christine, you shouldn't. You have a fiancée at home."

Her face darkened at the mention of Raoul. "No..No, I don't. I called off the wedding."

"What? Why?" Erik asked alarmed.

"Because I realized that I couldn't give him my heart," explained the  
young girl.

She saw his puzzled look and smiled lightly. 'Why?' his eyes seemed to ask.

"Because I had already given it to someone else. Only... I didn't know it  
at first."

Erik frowned at the beautiful girl. She had come all this way to tell him she was in love with someone else? Why would she kiss him? Why was she trying to hurt him so much?

He felt hot tears prick his eyes, this time they were from pain though. He sighed deeply and looked down at his lap.

"Christine...why are you telling me this?" he asked quietly. He looked afraid of the answer.

"Because...I had already given it to you," Christine said calmly. She placed her hand delicately underneath his chin and made him meet her eyes. His eyes were wide with shock and shining with tears.

"Christine," Erik said with doubt laced into his voice. "What-?"

"You don't believe me," she said sadly. It wasn't a question.

"Why should I? Why should believe you? You ran off with him! You left me here to rot!" He stood up angrily.

"You choose him! You turned to him for comfort on the rooftop. You professed your love for him. You ran away from this place with him!"

Christine was crying now. Her heart was breaking in half. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, mon ange.I was scared. I was so frightened of my love for you."

He shook his head sadly, all anger seemed to have fallen out of his body."Yes. Because it's me, isn't it? Because I'm a monster, right? Right. Why am I even letting myself believe you?"

Christine quickly scrambled to her feet, her knee giving a shout of protest at the unexpected movment. "You are not a monster." She stepped closer to him and slipped her hands into his. "I promise you that. My love, it was only because of its intensity. I was scared... I was scared that it would swallow me whole."

"And now?" Erik said so softly that Christine was even sure if she heard him. His hands were quivering harder than ever and his voice was thick with fresh, unshed tears. His mismatched eyes were filled with terror, pain, and complete love. But Christine could still make out a glimmer of hope that was still shining out at her.

"Now I know that without you I'm not whole," Christine breathed out softly before pressing a light kiss on his unmasked cheek. Before he could react her fingers were slipping underneath his mask and his mask was gone. He didn't jump back or yell or get upset with her, he just slowly closed his eyes and waited to hear her fading footsteps as she left him standing there all alone.

Suddenly there was the light, amazingly pleasurable feeling of her fingers ghosting over his marred cheek. The face that had only felt pain and neglect. He moaned and nuzzled his face closer to her hand, a few tears starting to slip out of the corners of his eyes. She smiled softly at him, even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"Without you my life is meaningless," Erik said.

She stopped touching his face at his words, her heart feeling like it was about to jump out of her chest. She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his disfigured cheek. He sighed in pleasure and a shudder ran through his body. More tears started to fall down his cheek as she pulled back. His eyes fluttered open and he stared at the beautiful girl in front of him.

"Christine," breathed out Erik, "Why-?"

"I love you," Christine said cutting him off. He froze. This felt like something out of a dream. This couldn't be real, his imagination and broken heart had just conjured up a fake Christine.

"I love you more than you'll ever know," replies Erik anyway. "I love you with every fiber of my being. You make my meaningless life have meaning. I love you so much."

Christine's eyes welled with tears and she smiled broadly at him. He cautiously returned the smile with his signature half smile. Grabbing both of his cheeks in her hands she pressed her lips against hers again. He remained frozen for a few seconds before he warily lifted his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Her hands had fallen behind his neck as she tried to pull him closer to her.

Erik felt something lightly brush against his bottom lip as they were kissing. Her... tongue? He gasped at the thought and she slipped her tongue into his mouth. He groaned as their tongues began to fight for dominance.

When they pulled back for their need of air, Erik let instinct take over for a moment. He nuzzled aside her hair and began placing kisses up and down her neck. She groaned and tilted her head to the side to give him more access to it.

He pulled back and stroked her hair for a moment, just enjoying being with her. The woman he loved, who had just told him three words he had never expected to hear in all his life, the woman who wasn't running in terror at that moment was staring straight back at him, her eyes filled with love.

"I love you," he said again. She smiled at the words.

"And I love you."

* * *

The next morning, Erik woke feeling particularly comfortable and uncharacteristically happy. Before he even opened his eyes the events of the night before came flooding back to him in vivid Technicolor. His eyes shot open to find Christine lying next to him with her head on his bare chest. His breath caught in his throat at the sight. His Christine was laying on his chest, her hair in knots from sleeping and the other activities that may or may not happened in the bed the night before. * He felt once again overwhelmed by his love for her and began carefully stroking her soft hair. She sighed in her sleep.

She was so perfect. So amazing. A pain settled in his heart as he realized what she deserved and that he would never be able to give it to her. She deserved someone who could give her the world. He couldn't give her that. He couldn't even give her a half of that. But he could sure as hell try.

Christine shifted a bit as her eyes fluttered open. She stretched her arms above her head and looked up at the man she was sleeping next to.

"Good morning, love," he greeted her.

"Good morning," she replied pressing a sweet kiss against his  
lips.

"Christine, my love, are you sure-?"

"Yes, I am sure," Christine instantly replied.  
"But you didn't even hear what I was going to say," muttered Erik.

"Yes, but I know what you were going to say. You were going to tell me that you aren't worthy, that I deserve better, but, my dear, I'm the one that's not worthy of your love. " She sighed. "I love you."

"I love you so much...but you deserve someone who can give you the world. I cannot do that. I can try, but I'll never be able to. "

"But you are my world," Christine promised grabbing his hand and tracing random shapes onto his hand.

"I love you more than you will ever know," Erik said softly.

"I love you too, my love," replied Christine.

He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips and gave her a quick smile. "Now, my  
dear, would you like some breakfast?"

* * *

**Yay for Erik's random mood swings! :D XD **

**I hoped you guys enjoyed it! If you guys liked it I'm going to have**  
**another (much more angst-y and sad) one-shot coming out soon. Maybe you guys**  
**can check it out! ;) **

*** I'm still not sure why I wrote that, but I can't seem to bring myself to**  
**erase it. :/ Oh well...**


End file.
